‘Raggedy Farm’ @ Hip Pocket Theatre
Art by Lake Simons; photos by Dakota Foster, Lauren Alyss
—Jan Farrington
Raggedy Farm, 1980…and Raggedy Farm, 2026.
It’s a 50th anniversary season full of celebration and heart out at Hip Pocket Theatre, and the musical Raggedy Farm is a tender, funny, wistful tribute to the creative spirit of two of its founders, playwright Johnny Simons and composer Douglas Balentine. Their words and music (laid down in around two dozen Hip Pocket musicals, the program notes remind us) were perhaps the most extraordinary part of an extraordinary and ongoing experiment in theatre—along with co-founder Diane Simons’ extravagantly out-there costumes, of course.
On opening night of Raggedy Farm, music director/guitarist John Dyer and his fellow players (Eddie Dunlap, Clint Niosi, and Mario Cruz / Dave Williams on drums, bass, and saxophones) let Balentine’s jazzy, choo-chooing, and remarkably light-handed tunes ride the rails and the streets (and the outskirts) of an older Fort Worth. The mix of Simon’s quirky homespun lyrics and Balentine’s rollicking tunes is a perfect storytelling style, moving in tandem to the characters onstage, who are the charming “show” to the music’s “tell.”
On the night, my other indelible takeaway was the sass and beauty of director Lake Simons’ choreography. Minus any dialogue to speak of, we watch the characters’ closely both in representing ordinary days and in actual dance “numbers”—all accompanied by the compelling forward momentum of the music. The through-line of the dance is informally balletic, but mixed with other styles more tied to the ‘30s and ‘40s setting. Plus Simons has plenty to talent to draw on in the cast, most notably from Paige Huffman and Ash Vance.
Here’s the story. Railroad Roy (Grainger Esch) has been “laying track” and such for the railroad since he was a boy in Cowtown. He’s a gentle fella, growing older knowing his “life’s a bore”—except for the warmth and love of his hard-working wife Rosie (Elizabeth Bowie).
But then, one cold Christmas night, “a ray o’ yeller light come to brighten up their lives.” They name the orphaned baby Ruby Ann (Cy Dyer as child Ruby, Huffman as grown Ruby) and build the rest of their lives around her: buying a raggedy farm from clever real-estate gal Hazel from Azle (played by Marcela Olivas; I chuckled at the shout-outs to Azle, Diamond Hill, Handley and other local outposts).
To say the farm’s a fixer upper is too kind. But Roy, Rosie, and Ruby Ann make their hardscrabble place better and happier: farming a little to eat or sell; raising Ruby outdoors running around with her Dog and Cat (the show’s ensemble of Dinvela Adam, Allison Marshall, and Allen Deanvtakes on a lot of roles).
It’s a tough life for them, out there in the country near Azle back in the ‘30’s and ‘40s. And Hazel (she grins when she sees them!) knows she’s unloaded an almost unsellable property on the little family, though they make friends with lively Frank (MJ Hengstenberg), the “damn patriotic All American garbage man” from the nearby city dump.
Years fly by, carried on Balentine’s tunes—always on the edge of failure, but always contriving ways to make it…just barely. The simple love in this little family never cloys—it’s heart-tugging without too much sugar to coat the real troubles. And when Dyer and Huffman dance together in a handover from child to young woman, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one misting up.
What will happen to Roy, Rosie and Ruby Ann as the city moves out to claim more country land? Will Hazel finally make a killing? Will their girl stay or go, and which one of her suitors (if any) might Ruby Ann choose—Frank or Jack the Sailor Man (Ash Vance in snappy whites). Have I said Susan Austin’s costumes are perfect, from American Gothic farm duds to pet outfits to grown Ruby’s curvy sundresses? Well, they are. Local references in the script tickle the audience: Roy noisily reads his copy of the Star-Telegram every day, and just the sound of the crisp, crinkling pages brings it all back.
Yes, it’s inside baseball—but it moves the emotions, even if you’re not a) of an age, or b) from the Fort. In my case, the presence of director Simon’s daughter Cy Dyer onstage as the child Ruby Ann put a ribbon around my heart and squeezed it hard—because Lake played the same role in 1980. Now, she and sister Lorca are the co-artistic directors of Hip Pocket, “joyfully walking in the footprints of these giant shoes that paved the path.” Simons also writes that she and Lorca share “the unique experience of having been here the whole time.” Plays like Raggedy Farm, and the artists who made them, were their playground and playmates.
Even without the overlay of Hip Pocket Theatre’s history and impact around these parts and beyond, this sung-through one-hour musical would hold its own. (Somebody should publish the Simons and Balentine musicals, right?) But add the fact that this summer marks the 50th season of HPT’s existence, and that a Simons mother and daughter are—then and now—passing the same child’s role between them, mingling history, family, artistry…. Well, it’s something to see and hear. Don’t miss this one if it sounds in any way like your jam. Sweet and lingering….
WHEN: August 7-30, 2026
WHERE: 1950 Silver Creek Rd (West off 820 at Silver Creek exit), Fort Worth
WEB: hippocket.org
